OCTOBER 7, 1996

Renault taking risks

RENAULT SPORT boss Patrick Faure has revealed that Bernard Dudot and his design team at Viry-Chatillon are to make a dramatic change to it's F1 engines in the company's final year in Grand Prix racing.

Since Renault started racing the V10 in 1989 the v-angle of the engines has remained the same at 67-degrees. Faure says this will change next year so that the RS9 engine can have a lower center of gravity. Renault Sport is aiming to win 15 of the races next year to reach a total of 100 victories in F1.

The move is decidedly risky as new engines generally take some time to develop, and this has led to speculation that Renault is perhaps considering a longer-term involvement.

Faure says that selling engines "is not on the agenda for the moment" but added that "1998 is still a long way off".